He said the shoulder has bothered him off-and-on since spring training and that he already had an MRI earlier this season.

“I think it’s just irritated, but we’ve got to find out where we’re at because we’ve exhausted everything at this point,” he said. “I don’t think it’s something that would require surgery or be career-ending. But at the same time, when you take steps to remedy something and things stand still, instead of getting better, you have to take the next step.”

If the MRI comes back OK, the Twins could have Pavano just skip one start and replace him with Jeff Manship on Wednesday. However, they’re also looking at the possibility of moving Brian Duensing back to the rotation, something that would be more of a long-term move. Duensing has a 3.08 ERA in 26 1/3 innings out of the pen this season.